FairyDrops: A Mascara Review

{my current mascara collection, including one very chewed up Benefit's They're Real! ahem. Baby Bean}

Recently, I took my 2nd voyage up the East side for another visit to {Pretty & Cute}.

Ever since my Fiberwig mascara dried up long ago, I've been drooling for a new tube of Japanese ink.

Heck, ever since I've been a Sephora VIB, I'm always drooling over a new tube of something!* 

Enter in, {FairyDrops}, a best-selling product from Japan with a cult-like following. Inspired by the desire to enhance your eyes both on and off camera, a Japanese TV personality created FairyDrops , which features a luxurious formula highlighted with miniscule fibers, working together to create dramatic, doll-like effects. Available in four different formulas, including waterproof, not to mention, packaged in THE cutest tube of mascara with one of THE most unique applicator brushes. 

Man, that's a whole lotta THE to live up to.**  

Check out the photos below to see if it does. 

BEFORE

nothing. zip. nada

AFTER

one coat of FairyDrops

EVEN MORE AFTER

two coats + bottom lashes. just for fun.

BUTTERFLY WINGS

Pros: 

-Applicator brush with three spherical segments! You can literally get every single lash your eyeballs own, especially those pesky corner wisps. I LOVE this brush.

-Suuuuuuper lengthening formula.  Two coats in, and I'm wearing a set of major false lashes. 

-Long wearing/No flakes/Holds curl/This stuff ain't coming off. 

-Ok, it's easy to take off. BUT only when you want it to. (I normally use Vaseline to take my eye makeup off. You can use warm water to slowly wipe/slide FD off of your lashes!) 

Cons: 

-Not an easily "build-able" mascara. 

-You might not see too much difference in lash volume/thickness. 

-Price is a bit spendy. My mascara purchases have ranged between $1-$28, and I've seen success all across the board. Check out my favorite drugstore mascara {here}

Product Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

For me, FD delivered what was promised. Dramatic. Check. Doll-Like. Check. My eyelashes were fluttering all day. Check and Check.

Did I mention how cute the packaging is!?

...

What's your current go-to mascara? Like, Love, or Holy Grail status? 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

*Sephora once carried the Scandal Queen version, but it was overpriced and a slightly different formula for the US. You can order the real deal, original Japanese formula from Pretty&Cute's online store {here} 

**Especially in the Mascara department, since those makeup commercials have turned me into a cosmetics cynic with the claims they usually promise.

"Lashes look 6700% longer!" 

"You'll whisk away in a new convertible that you won for being so beautiful with your beautiful eyelashes, and your mascara won't smudge!" 

"THISWILLCHANGEYOURLIFENOW"

As the model is clearly wearing the most ridiculous pair of fake CGI photoshopped Kim Kardashian lashes ever. 

Anyyyyyway. 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All products were purchased with my own money. All views and opinions are my own. yadayadayada. 

Splurge vs. Save: Eyelid Primer

Beauty confession of the day: I have greasy eyelids. 
Phew. I said it. It's out there. We can still be friends, right? 


A few months ago, I started noticing my eyeliner+eyeshadow doing a vanishing act about midday. Didn't matter if it was the good pigmented stuff either, by noon even my Nars had said "sayonara." 
As fate would have it during such a troublesome time, (hellooooooo first world problems), the bins at Nordstrom Rack were overflowing with discounted tubes of Urban Decay Primer Potion, in the now defunct "genie bottle" shape.* (general consensus: who cares what kind of bottle it comes in, could've been shaped like a turd, this.stuff.is.awesome!)

I snatched up a handful of these magical wish-granting tubes and never looked back. (For a week straight, I alternated between singing "Genie in a Bottle" and "Never Had a Friend Like Me." while getting ready in the morning).

That is, until another fateful day. This time, in the aisles of Target. Of course.
In the e.l.f. section. 
Recently, they released their version of a primer, which you can buy...all .17 fl oz of it, for ONE DOLLAR.


urban decay vs. e.l.f.
$20 vs. $1
1 Bottle vs. 20 Bottles




What do you think? No-Brainer?





xoxo

{Bon Bon}




Notes: These two products seem to match up well, and do pretty much the same job. The same. The consistency of e.l.f. is only slightly different, a little thicker/pigmented. 

*They were $7 each, instead of the normal $20. Which is why I had never really bothered with investing in it before. 
My supply is going to run out someday, and I'll have to ask myself if this is worth twenty more points on my Sephora V.I.B card? Right now Daniel has his fingers crossed, "please go with the dollar, please go with the dollar." 

SpotLight: Pretty & Cute

I may be half-Korean, but until my brief stint in Hawaii where my "Unni" (Big Sister) Jaeyoung took me under her wings, my basic knowledge was pretty much: 

Bulgogi=Good, Kimchi=Bad. 

Top Ramen=Really Good. 

You get the picture.

My recent visit to NYC and one particularly unforgettable night in Korea-town, once again opened my eyes (and tastebuds), to all the good that arises from the East. 

Food/Fashion/Technology/Trends. 

Lots of good. 

Especially, the Beauty products!!!!

ooooooohmgosh. 

You thought Sephora was bad, until you see a rainbow of lipgloss tubes with BUNNY EARS! 

If you follow my Instagram feed, you know that I entered through Heaven's gates yesterday. 

Hello Kitty angels, floated down from the sky, plunking melodies on golden harps upon clouds of BB Cream...

Fortunately, beauty extraordinaire Ruth helped bring me back down to earth and pick out some fun new products to try, (after I yelled, "It's so FLUFFFFFY!" and drooled all over the floor at Pretty & Cute's newly located flagship store). 

I'm pretty sure this is where princesses buy their makeup.

Girl's day, anyone? 

{Bribing the Bean with Curious George and a donut from Starbucks only lasted so long)  

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

FOLLOW ME ON: BLOGLOVN/INSTAGRAM/TWITTER

Pretty & Cute offers row after row of pretty packaging, trends, and technology from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan's most prestigious brands, at an affordable price. 

Check out their online store {here}, or visit them in Portland {here}

not a sponsored post. all opinions are my own. 

Products Bought: Missha M Perfect BB Cream/Etude House Royal Jelly Mask Sheet

Makeup Junkie

Yet another confession. I have a feeling I'll be making many, many, many of these throughout this little blog. My quirkiness might be fully revealed, so be forewarned! Ok, what's the confession? Well, I like beauty products. A lot a lot. In fact, I like them so much that I did my own makeup for my wedding, mainly because I love all of the products I own and I know my face better than anyone else. My love for clothes, shoes, and accessories also runs very deep, but amazingly enough, (and thankfully), I am not one who buys all the time, or even a few times. I'd rather wait until I really need something or can ask for it as a gift. At least this isn't confessions of a shopaholic.

{the truth is}

I love window shopping for makeup, (window shopping in general. sometimes more like window stalking), and occasionally will buy something new, only after a thorough investigation, reading reviews, etc. I'm kind of a nerd like that.

Recently, I organized all of my makeup that had been crammed into a makeup bag under the sink for far too long.

{Target Plastic Organizer: $6.00}

Now I can keep everything in it's precise section: eyes, cheeks, lips, and face. I also have a small separate makeup bag filled with things I usually reach for daily/take with me if we travel.

No more digging through a makeup bag for me!

{also}

My OCD thinks it's pretty great too. What?

xoxo

{Bon Bon}